MBTA bailout, road and bridge money approved

Friday

Jun 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMJun 29, 2012 at 8:41 PM

Bills delivering $200 million in overdue local road and bridge repair funding to cities and towns and providing a $49 million bailout to the MBTA were signed without fanfare Friday by Gov. Deval Patrick.

Michael Norton

Bills delivering $200 million in overdue local road and bridge repair funding to cities and towns and providing a $49 million bailout to the MBTA were signed without fanfare Friday by Gov. Deval Patrick.

The laws were signed as the U.S. House approved a bill providing $105 billion in national highway and transit funding through fiscal 2014. According to Congressman Michael Capuano, Massachusetts will receive $1.2 billion for highways and $700 million for transit over two years under that bill.

While some state lawmakers this week celebrated passage of the $200 million Chapter 90 bill, the bill's final passage occurred only after a long, mysterious stalemate between the House and Senate. The branches agreed on the $200 million allocation but held it up over a disagreement over other transportation financing proposals. Municipal officials expressed frustration in recent weeks that the stalemate prevented them from advancing public works projects during warm weather months.

The MBTA bailout bill (H 4174) was signed two days before the start of fiscal 2013. The funds – auto inspection fees redirected to the transit agency - will supplement fare hikes set to take effect Sunday in order to balance the T's budget. Fares on Sunday will increase by an average of 23 percent.

The new MBTA law also increases penalties for fare evasion and requires reports regarding the potential for Massport to acquire MBTA ferry system assets and take over ferry operations from the T.

According to Capuano’s office, Massachusetts is one of only three states and the District of Columbia that will see an increase in total annual funding under the federal transportation bill.

The bill also includes Capuano's initiative to establish a nationwide highway tunnel inspection program, legislation he filed in 2007 after Milena Del Valle was killed by a ceiling panel that fell in a Big Dig tunnel.

The transportation bill also includes a one-year delay in the interest rate hike on student loans, which was scheduled to rise to 6.8 percent, from 3.4 percent, on Sunday. The bill cleared the House and Senate on Friday, and Capuano predicted the bill will win President Obama's signature either later in the day or on Saturday.